Souls Apart (Book 1 in the Lost Souls Trilogy) (3 page)

I smiled. I was a little overdressed the last time we
went out; I knew that now. We walked a different route this time; instead of
going into the forest we took a shortcut around the back of the huge, scary
mansion house.
 
At the bottom of the hill,
on the other side of the house, was a huge lake.
 
I’d never been there before, due to being
scared of going anywhere near the house.
 
It was so peaceful.
 
He led me to
a small wooden bench at the back of the lake.
 
It was secluded; yet, even if it hadn’t been I would have felt like we
were the only two people in the world. Across from the lake was a waterfall and
the noise of the rushing water helped to relax me.

 
He started to
touch my cheek with his fingertips and I felt shivers run down my spine, and
then his lips were on mine again and it was so passionate.
 
Things started to move too fast, though and
so I pushed him away.
 
It was a reflex
action, which, judging by his expression had caught him off guard. “What’s up?”
 
he asked.

“I just don’t feel ready just yet; what if somebody
sees us.”

“I promise you.
 
Nobody comes around here.
 
I want
you, Charlie.
 
You’re all I can think
about.
 
You’re driving me crazy.”

“I know.
 
I feel
the same, but I don’t want to ruin things.
 
Can’t we just take things slowly?”

His eyes seemed to grow darker again and I felt
scared. “Whatever.”
 
He stood up and
walked nearer to the lake. I got up to go over to him but he turned around. “Stay
away from me,” he said. He was like a different person.
 
I didn’t know what to think or what to do. I
felt my eyes getting watery.

“I’m sorry,” I said, my voice wavering.

He turned back to face me and then walked back to give
me a hug. “No, I’m sorry,” he said, stroking my hair. “I think I should take
you home now, though.”

I nodded. He dropped me off at the top of my street
again and promised he’d be in touch.
 
He
had my number but he wouldn’t give me his. I took that as a sign that he was
only after one thing.
 
How could I have
been so stupid?

-5-

The past few days were so hard.
 
I did badly on some important tests at school
and my mom went mad.
 
I felt so bad for
letting her down, but I’ve found it so difficult to concentrate on anything
else but Eddie, lately.
 
I’ve been
wandering up to the house night after night hoping to see him and I even tried
to find his hut but I got lost and had to turn back round.
 
Amber’s been great.
 
She’s been letting me hang out at her place a
lot because the atmosphere at home’s been so bad.
 
Mom’s been working extra shifts too so I’ve hated
being alone. Amber was visiting her gran tonight, though and Mom was at the
diner so I went up to my room and started listening to some music.
 
As the sound of The Smiths (a band Eddie told
me about) droned out of my laptop I cried so hard I thought my heart would
burst.
 
My mom had warned me about guys
like Eddie.
 
“They only want one thing” she’d
said, and “once they get what they want you won’t see them again and you’ll
probably end up pregnant or with some disease”. She was right.
 
Moms always were, but why did I feel so
terrible?
 
I really thought he was
different.

As I sobbed into my pillow I could hear a weird sound
on my window.
 
It was like tapping.
 
I pulled back my drapes and saw Eddie. My
heart lurched and I felt butterflies inside my stomach. He’d been throwing some
small stones at my window to get my attention.
 
Even though my eyes were probably red and bloodshot from crying, I ran
down the stairs and threw open my front door. Eddie came rushing over and
started to wipe my eyes. “Why have you been crying?”
 
he asked.

“Oh, it’s a few things.
 
Nothing’s been going right for me lately.”

“I’m
sorry I
haven’t called you. I thought you wouldn’t want to see me after the way I
treated you the last time…”

“I really wanted to see you.
 
I’ve missed you so much.”

He pulled me towards him and gave me another kiss
which weakened my defences. “Do you want to come upstairs?” I asked.

He smiled. “Only if it’s what you really want.”

“It is.”

I held out my hand and as he took hold I lead him
upstairs to my room.
 
I closed the door
behind us and we fell onto the bed, engrossed in a passionate kiss. I’d never
felt so close to anyone and I knew my mom would be out for ages. I almost
stopped breathing when I saw him take off his shirt. He had perfectly defined
muscles and there were tattoos on his arm and chest. I walked nearer to get a
closer look but I couldn’t read them; they were sentences written in a foreign
language I didn’t recognize. “What do the tattoos say?” I asked.

“It’s a love poem from ancient times. I wrote it
myself.”

“Wow,” I said, as he lowered me onto the bed. This
time when he started to unzip my blouse, I let him.
 
We must have made out for two hours before I
started to get really thirsty. “Would you like a soda?”
 
I asked.

“Sure.”
 
His
eyes were the bluest I’d ever seen them.
 
I gave him another kiss before pulling on my jeans and going downstairs
to the fridge.

It was getting late so I told him I had school early
the next day and my mom would soon be back.
 
He understood. “I’ll see you again tomorrow,” he said, “I’ll meet you at
our usual place?”

“Ok.”

Once he’d gone I texted Amber to tell her the good
news and I fell into the best sleep I’d had in a long time.

-6-

Things had been getting serious between Eddie and
me.
 
We saw each other almost every night
and we talked regularly about our future together.
 
He was a romantic.
 
As a writer he was very good at telling me
how he felt.
 
I’d read some of his
work.
 
He was a poet, mostly. I found it
so strange, though, that most of his work was so dark.
 
A lot of it was about death. He was a deep,
quite serious person though.
 
We did have
a laugh sometimes, don’t get me wrong, but a lot of the time we discussed the
mysteries of the Universe and other similarly serious topics.
 
I found him interesting. I mean, a lot of the
guys at school only wanted to talk about Facebook or football.

Mom was on at me to bring him over for tea; she wanted
to meet him.
 
I didn’t know whether
things were serious enough for that yet, though. He didn’t even want to knock
for me for our dates. Eddie didn’t have any parents; they were both killed in a
plane crash when he was a baby.
 
His
grandmother had brought him up but she died a few years back.
 
I think this was why he was so obsessed with
death. He was all alone in the world and it made me feel protective over him
somehow.

Amber also wanted to meet him but each time I’d tried
to arrange it Eddie had cancelled at the last minute.
 
I also wanted to meet the female friend of
his, who let him use her kitchen but, again, he cancelled those meetings,
always at the last minute. Amber was starting to think he was hiding something.
 
She didn’t like the fact he lived in a little
hut.
 
I explained that he didn’t earn
that much from his writing, if anything at all, and that he was happy; but that
wasn’t good enough for her. She told me I was too young to settle for somebody
with no prospects and I should be looking for someone who was able to look after
me.
 
I told her that I wasn’t looking for
a sugar daddy and I was quite capable of looking after myself.
 
I was determined to get into law school and I
wouldn’t even let a relationship with Eddie stop me; if we were meant to be
then we would still be together no matter what I did with my life.
 
I hadn’t told my mom about his home, because
I knew deep down, that she would side with Amber and as much as I hated myself
for it; I wished he lived in an ordinary house too.

-7-

We were in his hut, talking about the mysteries of the
Universe again, when I asked him. “Eddie, why don’t you want to meet Amber?”

He placed his wine goblet on the floor and turned to
face me. “I do want to meet her, but I’m
scared,
that’s
all.”

I was surprised at his response. “Why are you scared?”

“I dated a girl once; a long time ago, and things were
going so well, but then she introduced me to her friend…”

He turned away from me and gazed towards the door. “Her
friend told her I wasn’t good enough for her.”

“Yeah, but I wouldn’t let anyone say that about you.”

He started to raise his voice. “Look at me, Charlie. I’m
twenty-four years old and I live in a
hut. I’ve got no family, no proper job. I have to beg my neighbour for food. I can’t
give you a proper future.”

“I’m
going
to go to law school so I can buy us things.
 
Women can be the breadwinners now. I love you.”

He paused. It was the first time I’d actually said
it.
 
What if I’d said it too soon? What
if I was wrong and he didn’t feel the same way about me?

“Oh, Charlie. I love you too. I’m
sorry.”

He sat back down on the bean bag next to me and we
started to kiss again. It felt good to know that we both felt the same way
about each other.
 
He was starting to
show how vulnerable he was and I wanted to look after him.
 
I know it might sound weird but I knew we
were soul mates; we were meant to be together and I was meant to look after
him.

“So, will you agree to meet Amber?”

“Ok.”

***

It was getting
cold now that it was nearing Christmas and both Amber and I were wrapped up
well against the cold.
 
I could see him
standing at the top of the hill.
 
Amber
shivered. “I’m
getting scared now,
Charlie.”

I looked at
her and noticed she looked a little more fragile than usual. “You? Scared?”

Amber was a
horror movie freak.
 
She’d seen all the
final destinations and complained none of them were scary. I had to hide behind
the sofa each time I watched them.

“Something doesn’t
feel right.”
 
She pulled her scarf over
her mouth.

“It’s just
cold tonight that’s
all.”

“No.
 
It’s something else.”
 
She glanced upwards. “Is that him?”

I recognized
his silhouette immediately.
 
He stood
across from Amber and gave her a smile. I could tell, though, by her expression
that she wasn’t impressed.

“You must be
Amber,” he said holding out his hand.

“That’s
right. Nice to meet you, Eddie.”
 
She took his hand and shook it.

We both
followed Eddie as he walked down to the lake. “Where are we going?”
 
Amber asked, her face appearing much paler
than usual.

“It’s ok. We’re
just gonna hang out by the lake for a while.
 
I’ve got beers in my bag,” I said.

She took a
step back. “I think I’m
just gonna go
home.”

“Amber, what’s
up with you? You’ve wanted to meet him for ages.”

“Yeah. And now
that I have I think he’s seriously weird.
 
I’m
sorry, Charls.”
 
She turned and hurried away, not once looking
back.
 
I would have to have a serious
talk with her tomorrow. Eddie gazed at his feet and started rubbing his hands
together. “I should’ve brought gloves,” he said blowing on his bare hands,
which I could see were getting red.

“We can go to
my house if you like,” I said. “My mom’s dying to meet you.”

He shook his
head. “You said that about Amber.
 
Don’t you
get it? People don’t like me, Charls.
 
You’re
the only one who really gets me.”

I took hold of
his hands and gave them a rub. “I don’t know why you think that.”

“She didn’t stay
long, did she? She couldn’t wait to get away. And I heard what she said.
 
If it’s any consolation I think she’s weird
too.”

We both
laughed and huddled together, watching birds walk precariously across the icy
lake. “So when are you going to meet my mom?”
 
I asked.